CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - A SpaceX satellite launch lit up the Florida coast Monday evening, leaving a pulsing, swirling exhaust plume glowing in the sky before sonic booms announced the booster’s safe return to land.The Falcon 9 rocket, carrying a COSMO-SkyMed Italian Earth-observation satellite, blasted off just after sunset following four straight days of delays due to weather and even a wayward cruise ship.
With no cruise liners in sight and last week’s wind and rain long gone, the cool but clear Florida skies provided perfect conditions – and a dramatic backdrop – for Monday’s launch.The rocket’s 9 Merlin engines cut a bright trail through the cloudless twilight.
As the rocket climbed back into the sunlight, its exhaust plume caught the rays of the setting sun and spread out across a wide swath of the sky.Exhaust plumes from the first and second stages created a glowing nebula-like display in the sky.
Two and a half minutes after launch, the first stage booster separated for its return to land. As each stage’s thrusters fired – one towards orbit and the other toward land – the white plumes continued to gleam in the setting sun, pulsing and streaming in a display that looked almost like a distant starry nebula.With the otherworldly cloud still hanging in the sky, a triple sonic boom cracked across the coast as the Falcon 9 first stage returned to Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Base, safely settling down atop a glowing flame.